User talk:Cer Rias
Screenshots How are you taking your screenshots? I have some advice on how to improve the quality, if you're interested. Or are you getting them from some other source? Denis349 (talk) 23:11, March 10, 2013 (UTC) Ah, all I'm doing is screenshotting them from HD videos and then attempt to sharpen them a little in GIMP. I'd fully appreciate upping the quality of them though (if you have better quality ones then you can replace my screenshots). Cer Rias (talk) 23:22, March 10, 2013 (UTC) If you want to take some better quality screenshots, I can explain here. But this involves actually playing the game instead of finding videos (if you know the game inside and out, then it's probably easier than finding videos). There are a couple steps here, so I will number them. 1) I take my screenshots via PS2 emulator. The one I use is PCSX2, which is pretty easy to install and configure. You can find tutorials out there on how to set it up, which would probably include downloading DirectX and other things. When you're done setting it up, remember to download some PS2 BIOs and of course, a Dark Cloud and/or Dark Cloud 2 ISO file, which PCSX2 can play. 2) Once you're set up, you should download a program called myMC for PCSX2, which exports and imports save files. It would be best to find some finished Dark Cloud and/or Dark Cloud 2 saves so you can immediately start taking screenshots of things or events that appear late in game. You can also download a Codebreaker v10 ISO file so you can play with cheats (to help get through the game quickly if needed). 3) Now that you're playing the game, you have to actually make it emulate high-quality models of the characters and such. To do this, go to Config->Video (GS)->Plugin Settings, and have your Renderer in Hardware mode, which uses your computer's graphics card. For Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2 in particular, you can use x2 or higher scaling (I use x5), which renders it in an even higher resolution. Also, have Texture filtering, Logarithmic Z, and Alpha correction checked on, but leave Allow 8-bit textures off, it makes sure that there aren't any graphical errors (at least for my graphics card). 4) All these settings will probably make your emulation really slow, which is perfect when taking screenshots. If it bothers you, switch the Renderer in software mode, which should be much faster and easier to emulate, depending how much RAM you have. When you're about to take the screenshot, switch back to hardware mode and press F8 to take a screenshot. The screenshot is saved in the default "snaps" folder, but that can be changed. If you're gonna crop the image, then make sure you save it as PNG file (JPG really sucks). Granted, it looks like a lot of work, but if you have time, it's doable. The result is worth it, and you can take screenshots for any game this way. Even if you don't plan on taking screenshots, at least you get an emulator and you can pretty much play any PS2 game you want. Unless you have a mac or some other system I'm unfamiliar with. In which case, I probably wasted my time typing this. Denis349 (talk) 01:44, March 11, 2013 (UTC) Thank you very much for this wonderfully detailed amount of instructions. I must find time to actually do what you've listed, but I greatly appreciate that you've typed a step-by-step. Thanks once more. :D Cer Rias (talk) 02:32, March 11, 2013 (UTC) Don't you need a powerhouse of a PC to actually force high resolutions through it? I'm not sure how much they improved PCSX2 anyway. --[[User:Tim H|'Tim H']] - Talk 18:09, March 11, 2013 (UTC) Perhaps you just need a powerhouse of a PC to force really high resolutions AND play it, but even x1 or x2 scaling doesn't take a whole lot of power. Even if it does, it's just gonna play the game really slow. Denis349 (talk) 20:30, March 11, 2013 (UTC) Merging pages Please see; http://darkcloud.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:Merging_pages --[[User:Tim H|'Tim H']] - Talk 23:45, March 10, 2013 (UTC)